But now that we've survived opening weekend of this year's LA Beer Week (and are dealing with a massive case of the Mondays), it's time to look forward at the week ahead. After all, there are only six more days of L.A. craft beer love before Union Station hosts the massive 4th Annual LA Beer Week Beer Festival and it's all over again until next year.

So to help you out, we've sorted through LABW's overwhelming event calendar and come up with something worthwhile for each night of the next week. Turn the page for more info about educational beer dinners, panel discussions, beer and bacon pairings and an epic beer float showdown.

Monday:

"So You STILL Want to Open a Brewery in LA: A Brewers Panel"

More than a dozen new local breweries have emerged in the two years since The Celebrator writer and L.A. correspondent Tomm Carroll organized the first LA Beer Week panel with the area's few professional brewers. This year, 17 owners and brewers from across the region will be getting together for the panel to share war stories, talk about their beers and answer questions from potential brewers. Everyone from the well-established (Eagle Rock Brewery) to the lesser-known (Cosmic Ales) will be on hand with beers available for purchase as well. FREE, 7 p.m., Rock & Brews, 143 Main Street, El Segundo, (310) 615-9890.

Specific details have yet to be released on this event--which will feature a beer and bacon pairing--but with one of Orange County's coolest microbreweries making the trek to L.A. with kegs of its bourbon barrel-aged stout and oak aged double IPA, the results are bound to be good. The York, 5018 York Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 255-9675.

Thursday:

"Ballast Point Spirits and Beer Extravaganza"

Mohawk Bend's all-California draft and liquor selection lends itself perfectly to a night highlighting Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits, one of the country's few breweries with a distillery on site and the closest one to Los Angeles. There will be specialty vodka, gun and rum cocktails as well as rare seasonal beers from the San Diego brewstillery along with Mohawk's own baby barrel of Three Sheets Rum that will be pouring straight from the barrel behind the bar. 6 p.m., Mohawk Bend, 2141 West Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 483-2337.

Friday:

"Logsdon Meet the Brewer Night"

Only a few Oregon brewers made it down to LABW this year, but thankfully, one of them is Dave Logsdon--the man behind Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, a small-batch saison brewery attempting to make traditional Belgian-style beer on a farm in Hood River County. The chance to not only drink beers from this on-the-rise brewery (kegs of which rarely make it to Southern California), but to meet the brewer as well makes this event worth the drive to Whittier. 7 p.m., The Bottle Room, 6741 Greenleaf Ave., Whittier, (562) 696-8000.

Saturday:

If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters.

SHOW ME HOW

Newsletters

SUCCESS!

You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) - please keep an eye on your mailbox, we're movin' in!

"Food GPS L.A. Beer Float Showdown 4"

Though there are a long list of worthy events going on in the final hours of LABW, the Beer Float Showdown has to be one most after Squid Ink's heart. Five teams of top local chefs have teamed up with five L.A. breweries to craft perfect beer floats, all of which will aim to out-do last year's winner--a bourbon chocolate ice cream with pig candy covered in Eagle Rock Brewing's Solidarity. $35/person ($45/VIP), 2 - 5 p.m., Golden Road Brewing, 5430 W. San Fernando Rd.